Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Engineering Physics Capstone

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The  purpose  of  the  Engineering  Physics  Capstone  design  course  is  to  pull  together  knowledge  students  have  gained  in  their  physics  and  engineering  classes  into  one  significant  design  experience.  

It  should  incorporate  a  variety  of  issues  that  engineers  typically  face:  

i. designii. prototypingiii. crea?vityiv.working  with  a  customer  basev. documenta?onvi. teamworkvii.economics

NOTE: Revised schedule on course web page - no class meeting next Friday Sep 30th.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Course Capstone Abstract - 2010-2011

Cosmic rays are thought to be created by supernovas, and have energies which range from 1012 eV all the way up to 1021 eV and beyond. When these cosmic rays hit the upper atmosphere, they produce showers of particles. A primary constituent of these showers are particles called muons (essentially a heavy copy of the electron), with mean energy of approximately 5 GeV. The muons have a short lifetime of about 2 microseconds. Study of such showers is an active area of research in Particle Astrophysics, and yet simplified versions of such studies are interesting, and provide an excellent tool to introduce the public - particularly middle and high school age children - to the wonder and potential of science.

This project involves the design and construction of a cosmic ray detection system. The system will be comprised of at least two subsystems, each of which can operate independently, as well as have their results correlated. The intent is to design a full cost-effective system that could be installed in a central Ohio high school, and operated by interested teachers and their students.

2Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Cosmic Ray Capstone from 2010-2011

How  does  this  project  address  the  capstone  goals?

i. design:  choice  of  configura?on,  materials,  etcii. prototyping:  seems  feasible  given  the  ?mescale  of  20  weeksiii. crea?vity:  what  sort  of  experiments  might  be  possible?    How  

complicated  of  a  design  would  be  appropriate  for  the  target  audience

iv.working  with  a  customer  base:  both  teachers  and  students  (high  school  and/or  middle  school)

v. documenta?on:  both  of  the  design  and  how  to  use  the  end  product

vi. teamwork:  ME/EE/CSE/Systems/Materials/etcvii.economics:  want  the  most  cost  effec?ve  solu?on

3Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Capstone Project Possibilities

Last  year  the  capstone  project  was  predetermined,  and  the  capstone  teams  were  chosen  by  the  instructor.    This  year  we  will  experiment  with  a  different  approach:

i. Provide  a  list  of  projects  that  can  be  selected  fromii. Allow  some  self-‐selec?on  of  teamsiii.We  want  the  teams  to  have  ~4  students.    With  15  (16?)  

students  doing  the  course  capstone  this  gives  use  3-‐4  teams  with  3-‐5  students  per  team.

iv.Different  teams  can  do  the  same  project,  but  we  will  need  to  coordinate  these  efforts  in  a  ways  that  makes  appropriate  use  of  resources.

4Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #1

Portable  Cosmic  Ray  Shower

Design  a  portable  cosmic  ray  detector  which  uses  some  illumina?on  method  for  visualizing  actual  detected  cosmic  rays.    The  detector  would  be  sta?oned  in  the  atrium  of  the  PRB.    It  should  be  portable  such  that  it  is  easily  moveable  to  Smith  Lab  or  local  area  schools  for  use  in  demonstra?ons.

5Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #1 Details

A)  Available  componentsi) Scin?llators  and  PMTsii)  DAQ  and  simple  control  so]wareiii)  PC

B)  Deliverablesi) Prototype  (if  not  final  system)ii)  Schema?csiii)    Control  so]ware  for  data  collec?on  and  display

C)  Otheri) Topics  covered:  cosmic  rays,  materials  science,  detector  technology,  control  so]ware,  DAQ

ii)  Skills  needed:  mechanical,  computer,  electrical

6Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #2

Development  of  a  Miniature  Water  Cerenkov  Cosmic  Ray  Detector

Cerenkov  radia?on  occurs  when  a  charged  par?cle  passes  through  a  medium  at  a  speed  greater  than  that  of  light  in  that  medium.    It  can  be  used  to  detector  cosmic  ray  par?cles  such  a  muons  and  electrons.    This  project  involves  the  development  of  a  detector  to  illustrate  this  effect,  as  well  as  measure  a  variety  of  proper?es  of  the  detected  par?cles.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation

http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/

Friday, September 23, 2011

http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/http://hawc.colostate.edu/work/

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #2 Details

A)  Available  componentsi) Scin?llators  and  PMTsii)  DAQ  and  simple  control  so]wareiii)  PC

B)  Deliverablesi) Prototype  (if  not  final  system)ii)  Schema?csiii)    Control  so]ware  for  data  collec?on  and  display

C)  Otheri) Topics  covered:  cosmic  rays,  materials  science,  detector  technology,  control  so]ware,  DAQ

ii)  Skills  needed:  mechanical,  computer,  electrical

8Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #3

Design  of  a  Inverted  Pendulum  Display

Design  and  implement  an  inverted  pendulum,  and  build  a  display  which  indicates  the  relevant  physics  and  control  ideas.    The  basic  idea  is  to  design  a  system  in  which  maintains  the  unstable  equilibrium  of  an  inverted  pendulum  in  the  upright  posi?on.See:1)  h`p://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-‐gadget/video-‐inverted-‐pendulum-‐balancing-‐robot

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd96_8iwP6s&NR=12) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5umi2X3F-I

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Many possibilities here:1) Rotary pendulum2) “segway”-like pendulum

Friday, September 23, 2011

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-inverted-pendulum-balancing-robothttp://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-inverted-pendulum-balancing-robothttp://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-inverted-pendulum-balancing-robothttp://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-inverted-pendulum-balancing-robothttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd96_8iwP6s&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd96_8iwP6s&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd96_8iwP6s&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd96_8iwP6s&NR=1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5umi2X3F-Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5umi2X3F-Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5umi2X3F-Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5umi2X3F-I

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #3 Details

A)  Available  componentsi) Possible  controller:  Altera  DAQ  board  ii)  Access  to  machine  shop

B)  Deliverablesi) Prototype  (if  not  final  system)ii)  Schema?csiii)    Control  so]ware

C)  Otheri) Topics  covered:  nonlinear  systems,  control  so]ware,  DAQ

ii)  Skills  needed:  mechanical,  computer,  electrical

10Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #4

Interface  to  Fermi  Science  Tools  for  High  School  and/or  Middle  School  Students

Design  simple  user  interface  to  freely  available  data  collected  by  the  Fermi  Gamma  Ray  Space  Telescope,  which  can  be  used  in  high  schools  and  middle  schools  in  central  Ohio.    The  Fermi  Telescope  is  about  a  satellite  which  launched  in  2008.    It  is  scheduled  to  con?nue  taking  data  for  2  more  years  with  a  possible  op?on  for  an  addi?onal  5  years.    ALL  of  the  good  photon  data  is  available  online,  but  access  to  the  data  requires  the  use  of  sophis?cated  so]ware  packages.    Design  an  interface  to  the  data  which  allows  visualiza?on  of  pulsars,  Gamma  ray  bursts,  the  sun,  moon,  etc.

11Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #4 Details

A)  Available  componentsi) Fermi  data  ii)  Access  to  experts  in  data  format

B)  Deliverablesi) Prototype  (if  not  final  system)ii)  Control  so]ware  for  data  collec?on  and  displayiii)  Maps  which  can  be  overlaid  on  the  current  night  sky

C)  Otheri) Topics  covered:  physics  of  gamma  rays,  analysis  so]ware  ii)  Skills  needed:  computer

12Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #5

Football  PosiDoning  SystemDesign  a  system  which  will  allow  the  real-‐?me  determina?on  of  the  speed  and  posi?on  in  3D  of  a  football  on  a  football  field  (or  other  properly  instrumented  environment).      The  purpose  of  this  system  is  both  prac?cal  -‐  did  the  football  actually  cross  the  goal  line  -‐  as  well  as  educa?onal  -‐  how  does  the  trajectory  of  a  thrown  (or  kicked)  football  differ  from  simple  projec?le  mo?on  predic?ons.See:

1)   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-501897/The-hi-tech-football-tells-referees-crossed-line.html

2) http://www.kokes.net/imufootball/imufootball.htm3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYd3y0A5J7Y

13Friday, September 23, 2011

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-501897/The-hi-tech-football-tells-referees-crossed-line.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-501897/The-hi-tech-football-tells-referees-crossed-line.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-501897/The-hi-tech-football-tells-referees-crossed-line.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-501897/The-hi-tech-football-tells-referees-crossed-line.htmlhttp://www.kokes.net/imufootball/imufootball.htmhttp://www.kokes.net/imufootball/imufootball.htmhttp://www.kokes.net/imufootball/imufootball.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYd3y0A5J7Yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYd3y0A5J7Y

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Project #5 Details

A)  Available  component:  None,  through  some  free  so]ware  exists  for  already  exis?ng  images  (e.g.  OpenVC  and  Kinect)

B)  Deliverablesi) Prototype  (if  not  final  system)ii)  Schema?csiii)    Control  so]ware  for  data  collec?on  and  display

C)  Otheri) Topics  covered:  projec?le  mo?on,  detector  technology,  control  so]ware,  DAQ,  visualiza?on  so]ware

ii)  Skills  needed:  mechanical,  computer,  electrical

14Friday, September 23, 2011

Richard Hughes

September 24, 2010 Page

Next Steps

i. Choose  projecta) Review  projects  over  the  weekend.    Check  out  links  and  do  some  addi?onal  

inves?ga?on.    Choose  a  project  based  on  interest.    Don’t  worry  about  whether  you  have  the  skills  now  to  do  a  par?cular  project

b)  Email  me  a  ranked  list  of  what  project(s)  you  like  -‐  do  this  by  Sunday  a]ernoon.

c) Indicate  if  you  are  interested  in  working  with  other  specific  teammates...  though  this  may  not  work  depending  on  the  project

ii. Projects  and  teams  will  be  set  over  the  weekend.    iii.Discuss  project  with  team  on  Monday  and  Wednesday  (maybe)  of  

next  week  (during  class  and  outside  of  class)a)  Try  to  divide  into  manageable  sub-‐projectsb)  Think  about  scheduling  and  who  will  do  whatc)  At  some  point  need  to  consider  costs  (assume  budget  of    <  $500/team)

iv.Begin  to  write  up  a  project  proposal

15Friday, September 23, 2011